Sunset
by Frodo Silverlune
Summary: As the sun sets in the west, two friends reminisce over what could have been, and what is now.


**Sunset**

By FrodoBaggins87

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Lord of the Rings. Oh, and one note. Freaks, if you think this is slash, read the foreword:

* * *

I have found the only word my language does not have multiple translations for: Love. And it is a word over-used and unidentified. For what does one really mean, when they say to another 'I love you?' Now that I have lived and lost, I can identify four general areas of love; each should have their own word, but there is none to state it. 

There is the love between family- the mutual fondness that comes with ones' own kin, the acknowledgment of blood ties and the everlasting roots.

Of course, there is the love of the Maker, which is indescribable because we cannot even fathom the depths of His love for us.

Romantic love is indefinetly the electric passion between a man and a woman, which I have never and have no desire to experience.

But then, the foggiest and most misunderstood is the love between friends, for how can one clearly express love, when all other influences and cultures of the world describe friendship as a familiar acknowledgement? Yes, that is the case with many friendships, but love, the deep, binding ribbon entertwining two lives and binding their stalks together, is the brotherhood of souls. And once so bound, one can never escape it.

* * *

_The most peaceful place I can imagine, dear Sam, is where we are now. How long have I waited for these days? And how trivial it all seems, how distant and clouded the years of longing seem, now that you are here and the endurance is finally at an end._

Golden glory melted into the lining of the violet clouds, bursting into an array of yellow beams striking white upon the rolling waters. Sunset floated above the indistinct horizon, and in the center of the ring one of the brass bars made upon touching the water's surface, a black figure exploded into the air, long nose reaching for the life-giving source of light, and gracefully disappeared into the bliss.

"Look, Frodo, the dolphins are dancin' again."

"Yes, Sam, they are beautiful, aren't they?"

Two gray-haired hobbits, nestled into the long grasses of the cliff top, were half-sitting: their legs stretched before them and leaning against the others' back, heads turned towards the sea. Watching. Soaking in the scene with the appreciation of long years behind them, and few to come.

"I could sit here forever."

"You can, Sam. That is one thing that does not pass as it did- time."

"Nobody will disturb us?"

"No. The elves know they are no longer needed. My healing is complete, now that you have come."

"I'm sorry I took so long, Mr. Frodo. I guess the years just rolled on by without me keepin' track of 'em, if ya know what I mean."

"Of course."

A silence. The music of waves below, the seagulls, the wind amongst the dunes.

"You did well, Sam. You lived a full life."

"I wish…"

"Don't bother. My path was different from yours. There was nothing you could have done to change it. I am content now, that is was matters."

A sniff.

"But still, it was so beautiful. I wish, I wish you could have been there too, sir, at the weddings, and the parties, to see the life you saved."

"You were, Sam. You were my eyes, my ears. You saved the Shire too, don't forget. And you enjoyed it for the both of us."

"But it wasn't the same, sir. Not without you there."

A sigh.

"I know."

A single diamond tear escaped and landed on the maimed hand resting comfortably on the smooth blue-gray waistcoat.

"There were times, Sam, I regretted my decision to leave. Whole mornings I spent in bed, imagining, dreaming you were here. I would hug a pillow, pretending you were lying beside me. I was buried in your embrace and your chin was resting in my hair, and oh! It was so peaceful, Sam. But it was only a pillow."

Sam could no longer contain himself, and tears streaming from his eyes, he turned, catching his friend in his arms.

"I'm here now, Mr. Frodo, and I'm never goin' ta leave again."

Frodo hugged his arms around the living, breathing body of Sam, immersing his lower face into the thick mass of curls, surrounding himself with the reality, inhaling the fragrance of hope. And the tension melted away. His shoulders fell, his mind relaxed. Decades were exhaled in one sigh of complete contentment, and he collapsed limp into Sam's arms.

Sam, aged as he was, felt the iron core of strength return, felt the fierce protective dedication overwhelm him with its wave of coming, felt the blood rush to his forearms, and just as his friend gave way, he was waiting. He lifted him as easily as if he were a child, and bore him quietly inside, threading calmly and evenly through the custom-made hallways, down the familiar passage into Frodo's room, and laid him on the waiting bed.

Covering him with blankets, he lay down beside him and wrapped an arm around his friend, nestling into the softness of the mattress.

"Sam," Frodo breathed, opening one blue eye, brilliant still, defying the ages. "You're here."

Sam smiled, and Frodo thought he had never seen anything so beautiful: the love emanating from the two brown eyes, crinkled at the corners from a lifetime of joy, the wide, modest smile.

"Dear Sam," he breathed, and disentangled one arm to grasp his friend close to him, burrowing into the solid warmth of his chest. And he felt a real return, a chin coming to nest among the curls of his hair.

Thus, two souls found everlasting peace.

* * *

END 

Dedicated to my Sam.


End file.
